I know there are people who love the summer heat, who happily spend days at the beach baking themselves under a relentless sun. So there must be many who are enjoying the weather of the past week. It has been hot, hot, hot, into the high 70s even through the night. The days have seen temperatures into the 90s, with heavy, humid air, so thick that mists sometimes obscure the landscape.
There are a pair of swans with two cygnets on the Mill Pond. I hope the young ones survive. It’s always a thrill to see them born, then swimming in a line behind their mother. Sadly, most years they are taken by snapping turtles, disappearing one by one.
A warning to anyone unfamiliar with snapping turtles: They can be mean. I heard a story about someone who got out of his car to help a snapping turtle cross the road and back into the pond. There was no pretty end. They are best left alone.
Belated happy birthday wishes to Cliff Athearn, who turned 100 on June 30. The occasion was celebrated with a big party, arranged by Jim and Debbie Athearn, for family and friends.
The Friends of the West Tisbury Free Public Library are preparing for their 63rd annual Book Sale. It will take place in a tent in the West Tisbury School parking lot this year, a new experience. Dates and times are July 27 to 31, 9 am to 3 pm. For more information, check the library’s website, westtisburylibrary.org.
At the library this week:
Thursday, July 13, 11 am, there will be a Human Library program with guest speakers who will discuss how they have been affected by addiction. The Human Library “lends” people for conversations about various topics. At 4 p.m., illustrator Kate Feiffer and editor Sue Berger Ramin will talk about their collaboration on their new book, “The Lamb Cycle: What the Great English Poets Would Have Written About Mary and Her Lamb (Had They Thought of It First).” Books will be available for sale and for signing.
Saturday, July 15, 3:30 pm, there will be a family concert featuring Choro das Tres.
Sunday, July 16, 4 pm, the Climate Book Club will meet on the porch to discuss “The Climate Book: The Facts and the Solutions,” by Greta Thunberg. Copies of the book are available at the library.
Paul Levy is back at the library giving help to Mac users on Tuesdays from 10 am to noon.
Black Authors of the Vineyard will present brief introductions of their published books at the Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs on Saturday, July 15, from 10 am to noon. The participating authors are longtime members of the island community: Jocelyn Walton, Dr. Lynne Bolle, Dr. Constance Batty, Jennifer Smith Turner, Dr. James Thomas, and Nicole J. Edmonds. Their books are on many subjects, including fiction, history, biography, music, children’s books, as well as their own experiences on the Vineyard and around the world. Signed books will be available for purchase, cash or checks only please.
While you are in Oak Bluffs, the current show at the Galaxy Gallery is “Up-Island Art”. I haven’t seen it yet, but expect many of the artists and subjects will be familiar.
Max Decker and Jim Marshall will be exhibiting together at the Field Gallery from July 14 to 27. It sounds like an interesting pairing of a gestural oil painter, who says he barely needs to look past his kitchen table for subject matter, with a photographer of black-and-white images of famous musicians like Janis Joplin, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Dave Brubeck, B.B. King.
Our golden retriever, Abby, turned 4 years old on July 8. It seems that she was a puppy only moments ago. She has been a total joy, much loved, and very spoiled. I tell her she is the best puppy in the world, and she really is.
If you have any West Tisbury Town Column suggestions, email Hermine Hull, hermine.hull@gmail.com.
